Angela Lansbury and Michael Gambon join BBC’s adaptation of ‘Little Women’

The BBC has announced the cast for its new TV adaptation of Little Women.

Call the Midwife creator Heidi Thomas and Downton Abbey executive producer Rebecca Eaton will bring American author Louisa May Alcott’s classic 1868 novel to life in a three-part mini-series from the makers of Wolf Hall.

Little Women is set against the backdrop of the American Civil War and follows four sisters on their journey from childhood to adulthood. With the help of their mother Marmee, while their father is away at war, the girls navigate what it means to be a young woman: from gender roles to sibling rivalry, first love, loss and marriage.

Emily Watson (The Theory of Everything) will star as Marmee, alongside Maya Hawke, Willa Fitzgerald, Annes Elwy and Kathryn Newton as the iconic March sisters.

Dame Angela Lansbury (Murder She Wrote) play Aunt March, Michael Gambon (Harry Potter) will play their neighbour Mr. Laurence and Jonah Hauer-King will play Laurie Laurence.

Writer Heidi Thomas commented earlier this year: “There could be no better time to revisit the story of a family striving for happiness in an uncertain world, and I am thrilled to be bringing the March girls to a new generation of viewers.”

A co-production with Masterpiece on PBS, Little Women began filming in Ireland last month and is expected to air in the US on PBS in 2018.